By Shannon Beck
There wasn’t a peep of noise from the stands, until the drum major said, “one, two.” Then the grand drums started to bang, the trumpets began to toot, and the band came together. This is something that senior Erin Fencl experiences every home football game. Even though she doesn’t play an instrument in the marching band, she is right beside them twirling flags.
Fencl has been involved in color guard since her sophomore year. She decided to join because she really wanted to meet new people. Already having a couple of friends in color guard, it made her decision that much easier to join. When Fencl saw the other girls performing, she knew that’s where she wanted to be.
“I looked up to the captains at the time,” she said. “I wanted to be just like them.”
Fencl thought highly of the older girls in color guard; she knew they were wonderful at what they did. She wanted to be just as good as they were at throwing the flags. The girls loved performing, and Fencl thought if she tried color guard, she would feel the same way. Now, it’s Fencl’s third year of color guard, and she loves it more then ever.
As this year’s captain, Fencl is really looking forward to the season. The captain helps the team by making sure that everyone is caught up, and gives a hand to those that need assistance.“As a group when we don’t have our routine perfectly in sync, or our feet and arms aren’t matching up, it really challenges us to work harder,” she said. “If I personally can’t get a move down it tends to throw me off a little bit, and I really have to work at it to get it right.” Occasionally, the team has many setbacks and challenges that they have to overcome throughout their season. Even the most experienced members get confused at times during performances.
“It’s okay to mess up, I just keep going and everything falls into place,” said Fencl.
Fencl thinks that all of their hard work has paid off. “We were invited to perform in the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Chicago for the second time,” she said. The night before the parade, the band and colorguard team have a banquet followed by a dance. In preparation for their trip to Chicago, the colorguard has been working on new and exciting things, which include harder tricks and faster-paced routines. In their last performance, band director Scott Weber had the idea for colorguard to use umbrellas. He based the whole band performance on the song and musical, Singing in the Rain. Fencl has never seen the movie, but she can picture it from making the performance come to life.
Not only does Fencl enjoy the Chicago trip, she loves spending time with the friends she has made. She has learned to achieve success; she needs to work hard and be determined.
Three years ago, Fencl tried something new when she joined colorguard. “People should try new things because it’s good for them to get out of their comfort zone, and see what they like,” she said. Fencl has tried many new things throughout her high school career, and in doing so, it has given her many more opportunities. By venturing out to unfamiliar things, Fencl has been able to go beyond what she was used to; and discover her true passions.
